Action shots - Faster lens options (EF preferred) and camera software settings

R2D2 wrote:

EscVelocity wrote:

Thanks again for all the thoughts! I'm going to keep my eye out for a good opportunity to grab the 85mm, but also find a change to take my camera out and play with 85mm and 100mm to get a better sense of where they are.

Excellent idea. Actual shooting (experience) is the best way to go.

You're saying the 100mm with and without IS perform the same (other, presumably, than the IS)? Interesting.

Neither the 85 nor the 100 have IS. Both lenses are literally identical, except for the tiny difference in purple fringing.

I always recommend turning IS off when tracking moving subjects. IS basically has two phases. First is keeping the image still and in the same place in the frame (that’s its job). Second is when the camera’s movement exceeds the IS’s range and it has to play catch-up to start the process over again.

Neither of these phases is actually following the subject’s movement along its path! Only you can do that.

There are of course instances when IS will help with moving subjects, such as when they’re quite distant, or moving slowly, or your shutter speed is intentionally too slow. Panning Mode (IS Mode 2) can help here too. Some lenses have a switch to change this, others are auto-sensing, and others don’t switch at all.

Bottom line though, is that a higher shutter speed (combined with better tracking) produces far more keepers for me than using IS.

This is also one of the main reasons I also recommend using DxO (with its class-leading noise reduction). It lets you shoot at much faster shutter speeds (and/or deeper depth of field when needed).

Here’s a thread where I posted results from the EF-M 32mm f/1.4 on the M6 Mark II (no stabilization) at a basketball game. The 32 is (IMHO) the finest EF-M lens in existence. You’d have to be able to get a lot closer than with the 85 tho…

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4471373?page=2

Here is a single frame (full size image) from that combination, processed with DxO (click on “original size”).

1/1600 sec @ f/1.4, ISO 1600. This is a full-on action shot (notice that both her feet are off the ground)!

I have used the EF-S 55-250mm extensively. It's my favorite hiking lens and has been a lot of fun. However most indoor school events haven't been great for it; they just tend to be too dimly lit.

Definitely better options out there for indoor events/sports. However you can have some success, esp when shooting at higher shutter speeds with DxO (as MAC said, you’ll gain a couple of stops).

R2

+1000

great example of what the 32 f1.4 can do with spot focus and servo and back button focus and manual tracking and dxo

if it were me, and I had your setup, I'd get the m32 f1.4 and dxo PL6 first for indoors and then save for the 85 f1.8 for indoor stuff, or if you can live with a tad shorter length, the siggy 56 f1.4 is an incredible portrait lens

for outdoor, use your 55-250 stm

and integrate a latest iphone when appropriate

photography is very expensive, and your situation you said doesn't want to go overboard as you alluded to.

These three tools, m32 f1.4, dxo PL6 with the class leading NR, and the 85 f1.8, or 56 f1.4 if you can live with shorter length, and some servo tracking techniques discussed above will make a big difference in what you are looking for indoors to improve.